A meeting of Taiwanese, US and Japanese lawmakers is being discussed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, while an exclusive report by Kyodo News on Wednesday said that a teleconference might be held at the end of this month.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group of the Japanese Diet has held discussions with Taiwan and the US about convening talks on controlling COVID-19, advancing Taiwan’s bid to participate in the WHO as an observer, and reaching an agreement on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co pledging a stable provision of semiconductors to Japan and the US, Kyodo News said.
Taiwan’s membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership would also be on the agenda, it said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The idea stemmed from comments made by Japanese Representative Keiji Furuya, a Liberal Democratic Party member, during the Yushan Forum in March last year.
Furuya, who participated in the virtual conference, expressed the hope that lawmakers from the three countries could form a society to promote security cooperation.
Furuya and Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) met in March to discuss the issue, while the details are still being finalized, a source familiar with the matter said.
Asked for comment, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that talks among the three nations are ongoing, but no definite date has been set for a meeting.
Ou thanked Furuya for making the proposal, saying that the ministry was happy to promote the trilateral dialogue.
In other news, Ou said that the Japanese government’s ban on non-Japanese people entering the country from India, Nepal and Pakistan, which took effect on Monday, does not extend to transit passengers.
Taiwanese in India can return to Taiwan via Tokyo, she added.
As of Monday, 10 employees at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in India had tested positive for COVID-19, including two Taiwanese diplomats who on Saturday last week had returned to Taiwan for medical treatment via a chartered flight arranged by the French insurance company Carps International, she said.
Other infected employees can also return for treatment via charter flights, while those with minor symptoms can stay in India for treatment, she said, adding that the ministry had delivered a batch of medication for infected TECC employees.
While local media reported that the TECC’s head, Representative to India Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱), had tested positive, Ou said that the ministry could not release the identity of those who had tested positive due to privacy concerns.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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